https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-xis-hands-are-tied-in-trade-talks-with-u-s-1525277663
This article suggests how hard it will be for
Xi Jinping and his administration to make the kinds of decisive moves the US
team now visiting China will likely demand: a) because Xi himself is a believer
in the statist economy he is proclaiming and supporting; and b) because “vested
interests” (again! This has gone on for
years!) will not comply with orders to undertake fundamental structural reforms
at the grass-roots level. An old theme,
but important to revisit now.

China – Global

https://www.chinalawblog.com/china-ip/
A blog on intellectual property legal issues
in China. Contents constantly changing,
so scroll through for items of interest.
Definitely legal in nature, but of interest to companies with IP as well
as to legal professionals.

https://www.aei.org/publication/trumps-trade-team-to-china-root-for-lighthizer-and-navarro/
As the Administration’s top team heads for
China amidst vast publicity, allegedly to conduct “deal or die” talks with
Beijing on Trump’s demands, the usually pro-free-trade Claude Barfield of
AEI stands with the hardest of the
hard-nosed Americans, and lays down a menu of Chinese offenses – covering all
the main points – that, in his view, the US must demand be remedied or
eliminated. He then lays out a menu of
U.S. steps to be taken if China does not relent. It’s pretty much all here, but he says
nothing about ongoing tits and tats.

https://tinyurl.com/yck495ju
Yet more positioning from the same D.C.
event. Strangely blithe failure to see
the similarity between Paulson/Clinton’s “Strategic Economic Dialogue” (later
“Strategic AND Economic Dialogue” and what USTR Lighthizer seems to envision.

https://tinyurl.com/y7b5u3vc
For the trade-savvy. A respected international trade analyst
blasts the Trump tariff threat, delineates what is and isn’t legal under
international trade law, and suggests ways that the US Administration could act
against offensive (but not illegal) PRC investment policies. A slow but valuable read.

https://tinyurl.com/y96vblot
A lighter read than the preceding item: bated
breath everywhere over what the US Administration’s actions on trade (including
steel and aluminum tariffs on imports from EU and other “friendly” countries – ostensibly
occasioned by PRC overproduction – will ultimately amount to. And, what will China do, having stated
categorically that it is not going to be kicked around by the US?

https://tinyurl.com/ya4qf48x
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has found a
political niche – China – and is maximizing his presence in it in the Era of
Trump. He here discusses the spectacular
Bill he is about to introduce in the Senate.
Future unclear, but content unmistakable.